Purpose: Research indicates that a culture of learning is a key factor in building high schools that foster academic achievement in all students. Yet less is known about which elements of a culture of learning differentiate schools with higher levels of academic performance. To fill this gap, this comparative case study examined the cultures of…

Purpose: Charter schools are unique public schools in part because this type of school can close if it fails to meet objectives set forth by the chartering body that approved it. Thus far, however, little research has been conducted into the causes of charter school closures. In this article, we examine charter school accountability. Research…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the means by which principals achieve an impact on student achievement. Research Design: Through the application of structural equation modeling, a mediated-effects model for school leadership was tested, using data from 97 secondary schools in the Netherlands. Findings: The results showed a small…

Purpose: Most studies on the impact of school culture focus only on teachers' average perceptions and neglect the possibility that a meaningful increment to the prediction of school effectiveness might be provided by the variance in teachers' culture perceptions. The objectives of this article are to (a) better understand how teachers' collective…

The theory-driven Organizational Health Inventory was compared to the empirically derived Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire in predicting student achievement and teachers' commitment to the school. After controlling for the socioeconomic status of the sampled 58 schools, only academic emphasis contributed significantly to student…

Research on effective schools is limited by the same weaknesses that hamper research on effective organizations. Examining two competing frameworks for studying organizational effectiveness, this report proposes a general model of school effectiveness. The model was enacted and studied in one school and was found to be effective. Includes two…

Although researchers and reformers consider school climate an important aspect of effective schools, the concept is difficult to measure. This paper uses a health metaphor to conceptualize and measure school climate. It examines relationships between school health and student achievement in a sample of New Jersey middle schools. Organizational…

Purpose: No Child Left Behind (NCLB) brought attention to the need for states to upgrade the criteria used to certify teachers for entry into the profession. This study focuses on collective teacher qualifications mandated by NCLB and the role they play in explaining differences in school achievement and growth rates. Research Methods: The study…

Considers interrelationships among school climate, teacher empowerment, and school effectiveness, based on measures of mathematics and reading achievement in 86 New Jersey middle schools. Results show that teacher empowerment is pivotal to school effectiveness. A theoretical model explains linkages between organizational characteristics and…

Reviews 1980-95 empirical literature on the relationship between the principal's role and school effectiveness. Examines conceptual underpinnings of several theoretical models to study the role, the relationship between models and investigation methods, and the nature of principals' influence. Principal leadership and school goals indirectly…

Purpose: Currently under the No Child Left Behind Act, cut scores of successive cohorts of students are used to identify schools that are successful and others that are failing. For many schools, however, this score does not provide an accurate, fair, or comprehensive performance assessment. The focus of this study is to compare three alternative…

Identifies situations in which there is disparity between coefficients calculated from aggregate versus individual level data. Determines the magnitudes of these discrepancies, and discusses the implications for test score reporting and policy decisions based in whole or in part on the aggregate level relationships and discrepancies identified.…